Recap / Sliders S 01 E 01 E 02 Pilot

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Originally aired March 22, 1995

Teleplay by Tracy Torme & Robert K. Weiss

Story by Tracy Torme

Directed by Andy Tennant

Physics student Quinn Mallory accidentally unlocks the gateway to parallel universes. He invites his physics professor Maximillian Arturo and his friend Wade Wells along for a ride. An accident sends the three of them, along with rebounding singer Rembrandt Brown, to an alternate Earth that's in the middle of an ice age. Another mishap results in our heroes landing on a world where Russia rules America.

Tropes present in the episode:

• Allohistorical Allusion: In one of the worlds visited by Quinn's double, the Chicago Cubs had won three consecutive World Series by 1994.
• Alternate History: The Point of Divergence on Soviet World is that America lost the Korean War, which started the domino effect until finally the American economy collapsed and the country was annexed by the Soviets. The novelization adds information revealing that the changes went back further, at least to World War II. (Franklin D. Roosevelt surviving his fourth term, for example.)
• Amazing Freaking Grace: The first of many uses of Cleavant Derricks's beautiful singing voice.
• Ambulance Chaser: Ross J. Kelly on Earth Prime.
• Armor-Piercing Response:
  • Arturo is taken aback when Mrs. Mallory says that Quinn thinks very highly of him.
  • While Quinn is distracted looking at the timer, Arturo is left stunned by the park's statue.
    Arturo: Good heavens, has that always been here?!
    Quinn: Who? Abe? Yeah.
    Arturo: No. Lenin!
• Artistic License – History:
  • When he sees the statue of Lenin, Arturo gives his name as "Nikolai Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin." Lenin's first name was "Vladimir." In addition, his birth name was "Ulyanov" and "Lenin" was an alias. Both would not be used in giving his full name.
  • When Rembrandt is sworn in during the trial at The People's Court, the oath still ends with "so help me God." The Soviet Union and its affiliated satellites were officially an atheistic society, so the use of God during legal proceedings is very unlikely.
• As Himself: Judge Joseph Wapner appears as himself during Rembrandt's trial on Soviet World.
• As Long as It Sounds Foreign: The Russian in this episode (notably Pavel Kurlienko's lines) is pretty much this. Surprisingly, the French dub replaced all pseudo-Russian lines with lines in actual (almost flawless) Russian, as well as fixing the aforementioned issue with Lenin's first name.
• Bait-and-Switch: After escaping Soviet World, Rembrandt is stunned to be in a cab driven by a version of the guy that turned him in. Pavel then remarks he does recognize Rembrandt... because he's a huge Crying Man fan.
• Big "OMG!": The very first line of the series, as Quinn excitedly talks to his video camera about "this big weird thing" that appeared in the basement during an experiment.
• Big "YES!": After being pulled back from the Bizarro Universe, Quinn reacts to this successful test by screaming this.
• Bizarro Universe: Quinn's first slide. Americans are emigrating to Mexico, Earth is going through global cooling, John F. Kennedy is still president and married to Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley is still alive and performing.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Quinn shows shades of this. He's focused on his experiments than schoolwork and reads unassigned papers because they interest him, but he passes up the chance to correctly answer Arturo's question during class.
• The Cameo: Harry Shearer is the voice of the Shock Jock Spaceman.
• Cerebus Call-Back: Rembrandt's first appearance in the episode sees him getting ready to head to a baseball game in order to sing the National Anthem. Towards the end, he sings Amazing Grace for those who died in the raid on the NorCal Federal Penitentiary.
• Chekhov's Gun: The gate at Quinn's house, which squeaks whenever it opens. He uses it as a final test to see if they got home, though it turns out it still squeaks in a universe where his dad is still alive.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Quinn's father, Michael, is mentioned early on to be dead, thus setting up the Twist Ending.
• Crapsack World:
  • Tundra World has been devastated by Endless Winter. Arturo can only guess what happened, but while buildings are still standing, no locals are seen.
  • Soviet World. The government is brutal and always watching, people are casually gunned down in the streets for the slightest offenses (with most observers not even reacting), and the only resistance movement in sight is on the verge of being crushed.
• Crazy Homeless People: Crazy Kenny, a homeless man who spends his days in the park spouting communist ideals. In Soviet World, unsurprisingly, he is running for office.
• Cryptic Background Reference: On Tundra World, Quinn finds a family photo similar to the one seen earlier back home, but this one features a sister he never had and the dog that ran away when he was a kid.
• Curse Cut Short: Wade is about to say where "Quinn" told Hurley to stick the store's computers, but our Quinn interrupts her.
• Dead Alternate Counterpart:
  • In Soviet World, Rembrandt's double was killed in the Detroit Uprising in 1982. Wade's double, a leader of the resistance, is later killed.
  • The trope is also inverted with the very much alive double of Quinn's father in the final scene.
• Deadpan Snarker: While wandering around Soviet-occupied San Francisco, Arturo decides it's time to get something to eat.
  Arturo: Anyone fancy a kielbasa?
  Quinn: Professor, how could you eat at a time like this?
  Arturo: My stomach has no political preferences.
• Death or Glory Attack: About to ride up to the prison, Doc describes the raid as this to Wade. This raid requires so much of their remaining manpower and resources that a loss will doom the entire West Coast Uprising.
• A Dog Ate My Homework: Arturo initially scoffs at Quinn's discovery, and expects his next excuse will be that his dog ate his homework. Quinn opens the wormhole, and casually remarks that he doesn't have a dog.
• Dramatic Shattering: Quinn drops his glass at the end after his father, who's been dead for years on Earth Prime, walks into the house.
• Endless Winter: Tundra World, the first world that the sliders as a group visit, is a frigid wasteland. Arturo speculates it was caused by either nuclear war or an ecological disaster.
• Exact Words: Kelly says Rembrandt will be sent "to the people's court" for punishment. Rembrandt soon finds himself literally on the set of The People's Court.
• Fictional Currency: When Arturo pays for his sausage, he uses a real dollar. The vendor then gives him a Soviet dollar, which is red and has a picture of Khrushchev.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: Quinn questions why the group landed in the park instead of being returned to his basement, right before Arturo notices a statue of Lenin in Golden Gate Park.
• Get Out!: Once back from the Bizarro Universe, Quinn immediately tries to tell Arturo about his experiences, only to get a cold reception and accused of insulting the Professor. When Quinn tries to make sense of this, Arturo screams this at him. In the face of Quinn just standing there all confused, Arturo leaves instead just to get away from him.
• The Ghost: Arturo's double on Soviet World works for the Soviets, being a Citizen General in charge of the prison that Wade's double and Rembrandt are being detained in. Arturo pretends to be him as part of the raid, but the man himself never appears (due to being at home at the time).
• Hell Is That Noise: As the foursome is holed up in Rembrandt's car on Tundra World, Wade hears a strange rustling noise off in the distance. Rembrandt lowers his window and sees an approaching tornado.
• Heroic Second Wind: Wilkins describes the resistance's efforts as a losing fight, saying they are severely outmatched and that a number of prominent figures either sold out or refuse to endanger themselves. The prison raid is subsequently seen as this by the rebels. Wade's double died, but many more were rescued and the Soviet forces suffered a number of casualties, making it the rebels' biggest victory in some time.
• His Name Is...: Quinn's double is barely able to tell him not to alter the timer during a slide, but doesn't explain what will happen if he does.
• Heroic Vow: As the rebels react to their Wade being mortally wounded, Quinn tells Wade to look away.
  Quinn: Trust me. I'm gonna get you home.
• Hope Spot: The group narrowly escapes Soviet World and all indications suggest they made it home, with the squeaky gate in front of Quinn's house appearing to clinch it. Then during dinner, a very much alive Michael Mallory arrives.
• Ignored Expert: Quinn does tech work at the Doppler Computer Superstore. He explicitly warned Hurley about the problems plaguing a particular series of computers, but Hurley ordered them anyway and now can't sell them to customers.
• In-Series Nickname: As the tornado approaches, Rembrandt coins "Q-Ball" when telling him they have to slide off Tundra World immediately.
• Invaded States of America: On Soviet World, the US has been occupied by the Soviet Union for decades.
• Ironic Echo: Over the possibility of them kissing, Quinn says he and Wade are buds. Later, when Quinn asks what she was doing with Wilkins, she gladly repeats the line to him.
• Jumped at the Call: After Quinn opens the vortex as a demonstration, Wade excitedly says she's all-in for seeing what's on the other side.
• Just Think of the Potential!: Spoken word-for-word by Quinn to Arturo.
  Quinn: There's bound to be worlds where they've outlawed war or cured cancer.
  Arturo: And worlds where they've perfected war and developed new cancers.
• Kangaroo Court: Rembrandt is quickly sentenced in a televised show trial of the People's Court, which is quite literally The People's Court.
• Kissing the Ground: Unintentional interdimensional traveler Rembrandt kisses the ground when he thinks they've made it back to Earth Prime. Unfortunately, of course, he is wrong.
• La Résistance: On Soviet World, Wade's double is the leader of the American resistance.
• Late to the Realization: Well-into seeing the horrors of the Communist USA, Arturo observes they should really track down Rembrandt ASAP.
• Layman's Terms: As Rembrandt frets about the possibility of being stranded in Tundra World for far longer than the timer's readout, Arturo explains the scientific theory of time being concurrent on every parallel Earth. Rembrandt asks for an explanation in much simpler terms, and Arturo gives it to him ("Four hours spent here is the same as four hours spent on our world").
• Mean Boss: Mr. Hurley, Quinn and Wade's arrogant boss at the computer store. Quinn's double remarks that Hurley's a jerk on every other parallel world.
• Mildly Military: In the scene where the flags are draped over the bodies of the fallen freedom fighters, the stars are set over the right shoulder, opposite of Earth-Prime.
• Mistaken Identity:
  • After returning from his first successful slide, Quinn is chewed out by Arturo for making a scene in class, fired from his job for telling off the boss, and told he made out with Wade. He is completely confused, until he meets his double in the basement.
  • Russian officials and rebel forces alike initially think Wade is her rebel leader double.
  • After being brought to the rebels, Arturo tried to explain everything, but he and Quinn ended up being detained for several hours. Arturo is incredulous they believed Wade and not him, at which point he's informed that his double works for the Communist regime, so the rebels of course had little reason to trust him.
• Mr. Exposition: Quinn's double, who lays out the nature and rules of sliding to Quinn.
• Musical Spoiler: As the group toast returning home safely, a man enters through the front door amid suddenly more serious music. The Twist Ending is about to hit.
• National Anthem: The Soviet anthem plays on the radio when Rembrandt asks Pavel to put on the baseball game. He initially thinks it's the Canadian anthem. Pavel and another driver reverently salute while driving.
• Not Now, Kiddo: Wade attempts to call home, but is unable to provide a PT&T ID code and is told she will be arrested. She goes to tell Quinn, but he thinks she's trying to say they didn't make it home, which he and Arturo already know.
• Oblivious to Love: Wade repeatedly drops hints to a clueless Quinn, such as saying she got tickets for his favorite hockey team and how her ex-boyfriend was jealous about it being a date.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Played for Laughs when Arturo sees the solved equation.
  • Ross J. Kelly in Soviet World. He is interrogating Rembrandt when Rembrandt recognizes him from the ambulance chaser commercial in Earth Prime when, being a KGB interrogator, his identity should be secret.
  • Quinn when he thinks Wade has been killed.
  • The final scene.
    Michael: Did I miss anything?
    Quinn: Hello... Dad.
• Oppressive States of America: On Soviet World, the US has fallen under Soviet occupation and become a Police State as a result.
• Pet the Dog: Arturo comforts Quinn after he expresses regret over disappearing on his mother.
• Pilot Movie: The two-parter is a coherent story on its own, and the series truly starts with the movie's Twist Ending.
• Pointy-Haired Boss: Hurley, Quinn and Wade's boss at Doppler Computer Superstore. He ordered very questionable computers despite Quinn's warnings, yet he still scolds Wade for convincing a high-profile customer to wait a month to buy more expensive but substantially better computers.
  Hurley: If it weren't for my mistakes, you'd be out of a job.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: While we were seeing Quinn in the Bizarro Universe, his double was on Earth Prime having some fun, such as openly insulting Arturo and later Hurley to their faces. We're only told some of what was said, but by the time our Quinn gets back, he's been barred from class and fired from his job.
• Rebel Leader: Wade's double on Soviet World.
• Resigned to the Call: Of the trio in the basement, Arturo was the most insistent on proper studying and testing before entering the vortex, but he relents in the face of the others' insistence, saying this is still science, after all.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: As the trio wander the streets, some government agents start following after them. Wade thinks they're after her, but only because she attempted to use a payphone and didn't provide requested information. It's later revealed that Wade's double is a rebel leader, so these agents just mistook our Wade for her.
• Running Gag: The group's long tradition of rough landings begins when they escape Tundra World and land in a park.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Right as the group begin to make their trek to Golden Gate Park in order to leave Soviet World, they are accosted by a man demanding they show their citizenship papers due to violating curfew. Wade, fed up with this world by this point, promptly kicks him in the gut and flees with the others.
• Self-Serving Memory: In the face of Rembrandt insisting the Spinning Topps faltered as soon as he quit, Artie reminds him they went on to a long string of #1 hits. Rembrandt claims they were all pure flukes.
• Simple Solution Won't Work:
  • Quinn acknowledges using himself as a test subject is risky, but he says he had already determined that the vortex's electrical field would prevent his video camera from simply recording footage of the other side.
  • Subverted when Quinn proposes the rebels raid the prison. Doc says they already considered the option, but it's just not possible to even get near the place with their current resources. Quinn says they have the perfect way to get past the security checkpoints: the double of the Citizen General that runs the prison.
• Skeptic No Longer: Arturo is familiar with all the research and theories, but in the face of Quinn's claims of having a device to open a portal to travel to a parallel Earth, he calls that utter nonsense and pure fantasy. Quinn subsequently opens a vortex, leaving Arturo in Stunned Silence.
• Skewed Priorities: Amid the group's hectic effort to escape the approaching tornado, Rembrandt suddenly stops to ask what will happen to his car. After a moment of looking at what's coming, he realizes his car is not the thing to focus on right now.
• The Snack Is More Interesting: Professor Arturo reacts to the discovery that the group have found themselves in a Communist USA in an Alternate History dominated by the USSR by... walking up to a nearby food stand and ordering some sausage. It's lampshaded and justified:
  Quinn: Professor, how can you eat at a time like this?!
  Arturo: My stomach has no political preferences.
• Sound-Only Death: While surveying the Communist USA, the trio hears sudden gunshots. They look off in that direction, seeing bodies on the ground in front of mooks with guns.
• Surpassed the Teacher: Arturo has some trouble processing how an "unknown, unkempt, unpublished, unfortunately brilliant, ill-mannered brat" has the answer to the sliding equation and a functional device along with it.
• This Is Gonna Suck: The group's expressions in the final scene, as they realize they're not really home.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Ahead of the prison raid, Quinn is given a gun to defend himself with. During all the fighting, though, he can't go through with using it on a mook, so he settles for knocking the guy out.
• Twist Ending / Yank the Dog's Chain: The final scene is this for the sliders. By all accounts, it looked like they managed to get back to Earth Prime... until Quinn's dead father, Michael, walks in alive and well.
• Unrequited Love Switcheroo: After being repeatedly oblivious to Wade's overtures, Quinn gets noticeably jealous over her being alone with Wilkins. Wade is only too happy to lampshade this.
• Viewers Like You: While channel-surfing in Soviet World, we see a pledge drive for PBS where the viewer is asked to give money... or else.
• Wham Line: "Hello... Dad."
• Wrong Genre Savvy:
  • Rembrandt is an interdimensional traveler quite amused to find that his Soviet interrogator is the double of an ambulance-chasing lawyer. Kelly's superior, however, is absolutely certain that Rembrandt's behavior proves he's a skilled infiltrator and master of subterfuge openly flaunting inside information to his captors.
  • Upon seeing someone who looks exactly like him in the basement, Quinn initially thought the vortex somehow split him in two. The other Quinn explains he's simply a double from a divergent Earth.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Arturo's reaction to Quinn and Wade wanting to just jump through the vortex without even an attempt to study and test it first.
• You Look Like You've Seen a Ghost: The very last line, said by an unaware Michael to a completely stunned Quinn.